Saturday, December 15, 2012

So here we are very close to the holidays. I finished knitting all my obligatory (by obligatory I mean what I decided to knit) gifts.

I meant to upload pictures of my Booga bag totally finished. I have added a liner that keeps the bag's shape and there are a few pockets on the inside now that permits me to carry my cell, iPod and a few necessities. I have needle felted the surface as well.
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Booga bag front

Booga Bag side
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I also completed my sweater bag. Made from a felted man's sweater,liner added and surface needle felted.

Sweater bag

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Did you all know about felted dryer balls?
Well I didn't until last Saturday when my instructor Darcy Cormier. These are wool balls made from either wool roving, yarn or scraps wound tightly together and than felted in the washer and dryer. Apparently the reduce drying time and static. I made a few of them yesterday.

So today I hope to finish Christmas shopping. I just have a few gifts for hubby left to buy. The house is all decorated and the tree is up. The Reads Riverview knitting group won't be meeting again until the New Year.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Okay in an attempt to beat my felting blues I have signed up for the Felt Like Christmas workshop at London Wul http://workshopsatlondonwul.blogspot.ca/p/felting.html?m=1on December 8th. This is needle felting taught by Darcy Cormier. It promises to be a wonderful workshop and may save my washing machine. Not to mention my sanity.

Also try and join us this Wednesday night at Reads in Riverview at 6pm as I show anyone who is interested how to do Judy's Magic Cast On. Just bring a circular needle or 2 circular needles and a bit of yarn to learn this very cool technique for casting on.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

OMG!! I suck,suck, suck at felting!!﻿﻿
If you remember my horror story about breaking my washing machine last year at about this time of year trying to felt slippers. Well i did it again ! What the heck is it about felting that I can't seem to get. I try so hard and the harder I try the more damage I do to my washing machine. I was felting a few things and eventually they did felt but afterwards my washer would not spin and therefore would not drain. Hubby had to get a repairman to come in. The switch was to be okay but the pump seemed to be jammed! Yup, you guessed it there was wool clogging the pump. Now I want you to know that I felted my projects in a mesh bag. Apparently the wool fibers migrated out of the bag. Who knew? Anyways, a bit of $$ later I was ready to attempt felting this Booga Bag pattern by Julie Anderson. I had knit it a bit larger than the pattern calls for out of my handspun Tutti Fruity polwarth I had purchased at London Wul . Well I knit the darn thing too long and not tall enough. I remembered too late that things felt more in height than they do in width. So I had to cut some of back and sew that to the top making my bag a little more acceptable. It has to be lined. I like it irregardless and plan to attempt another. I did remember to add hot water from my kettle to the water, baking soda to aid in the felting process and to put my project in a pillow case and not a mesh bag. So I had no migrating of fibers to the washing machine pump. The pictures are below.

knitted Booga Bag

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Booga Bag complete

Sock class at Cricket Cove finished on Tuesday night. I always have such a good time teaching that class. It is so great to watch the students complete their projects. These young women were great to teach as they are good friends and helped each other enormously. Kudos to you ladies and your socks were lovely.

Knitting at Read's will be Wednesday night November 28th at 6pm.

Remember at this stressful time of year that 2 sticks in your hand and a bit of yarn can make a memory.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Well hello I finally was able to pick up my Serpentine socks that I am certain I started late spring and pushed to the back burner. The pattern is from Wendy Johnson's "Socks from the Toe Up" book. I used Fleece Artist BFL in a lovely tonal green.

Anyways, just updating while on coffee break. Meet at Reads this Wednesday the 7th at 6pm.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

I took the flu vaccine at work on Friday and Saturday was not great due to side effects and having to wait for the telephone repairman. I was up at 3 am. I only slept 3 hours before going in for my 12 hour night shift. Thank goodness for Imodium. Can you guess the side effects of the flu shot? Thursday we noticed no phone/Internet service and had to wait until Saturday morning to have the repairman come because of our work schedules. Then at 3 am I try to renew my nurses license online only to discover that payroll hadn't been taking out the monthly deduction for it. I now have to pay almost $500 to renew before the end of December! My fault I guess for not checking my paystub more closely. They deduction has only been coming off since 1994!! So goodbye to a stress free end of 2012. Sigh.

The Reads group will meet this Monday night at 6 pm. See you there if I can afford the gas to drive there.
Hugs
Cinna

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Hi again. Just a little break from the apron making to upload my retreat purchases.
Look all the good stuff I came home with. See the bag of fleece? Isn't it lovely. A beautiful Shetland name if Greer Garsten (sp) was the donor. The book was a door prize, the combs I bought from Elaine. Pleaded take note of the hackles. Some clever gals running this years event made those up from oversized combs bought at the Dollar Store!

So this June my DD and I made a trip to Cricket Cove when she visited for my birthday.
Which birthday was that, you ask?
Well I'm not ashamed, it was my 50th!

I digress. We purchased a funky yarn there made by Estelle named "Twelve" to make this free fingerless mitten pattern that was available. Oddly enough the free pattern for the yarn is entitled "Estelle Twelve Wristlets" by Kate Atherly. The pattern is not on the Estelle website nor can I find it anywhere on the WEB. Sigh! However it is a lovely little yarn comprised of 12 different yarns and comes in 3 colorways. You can see a photo of them at Yarn Foward . Yes it is pricey as I was telling the ladies at London Wul at the Thursday spinning group. I don't regret buying it but I must tell you that after I completed the wristlets I realized I could use my own melange of funky yarns to make more of these wristlets. Pictured below are the wristlets using Twelve in the Garden Paradise colorway and 2 pairs using my own funky yarns. Great Christmas presents as the pattern is super easy. So enchanted by these wristlets is the Reads knitting group that I see every week that we all are bringing our own funky yarns to Reads this Monday to mix and match and go home to knit up a few pairs. If you don't have a melange of funky yarn handy it would be more economical to purchase a skein or two. Do go to the Estelle website and ask if they can email you a copy of the pattern. I don't know if that is possible but you can try.

Estelle Twelve wristlets

Melange of yarns

Busy day today. I have decided to make aprons for the next annual Maritime Handspinners Retreat to vend! So many of the ladies asked me to do so and with my sister Deb's help I have decided to go ahead. Yesterday I was busily altering a lovely apron pattern to hopefully fit a fuller figure. Today I am going to cut out several half aprons and perhaps sew a few together. My sister Deb is an excellent seamstress and I am so pleased she is joining me in this venture. Who knows perhaps she may actually take up spinning or spindling or weaving. I know she has possession of a very large loom.

Monday night is knitting at Reads and Tuesday evening is sock class at Cricket Cove. Phew I am tired just thinking about it.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Here is my completed Wingspan Shawl. I used a ball and a quarter if Patons lace in colorway "Bonfire". The pattern was designed by Maylin Tan and it can be found on Ravelry or you can look at the many photos on pinterest. Hugs Cinna

Monday, October 15, 2012

Well I am back from the 12th Annual Maritime Handspinners retreat hosted by the Hub City Spinners of Moncton and held at Rodd Miramichi River Resort. I am too tired to snap and post photos of my loot but I wanted to say a quick Cuddos to all involved with organizing this years event. Good job.

What a great time I had. The venue was wonderful with such breathtaking views and the demos were great. Of course the vendors were as always awesome and needless to say the spinning and spinning and more spinning was great.

I had a list of 11 to 12 things I wanted to purchase and I managed to buy every one of them and a little more. I am looking forward to next years retreat on PEI.

Monday, October 1, 2012

So my DD is having her wisdom teeth extracted tomorrow. Ouch! I do not get off work until 8am. Her father is going to head down in the am to be there during her ordeal, oops surgery. She will be coming home for a few days to recupperate. Busy schedule for her visit and I am just hoping she is up to it.

Well knitting group is meeting this Tuesday night, October 2nd at 6pm at Reads in Riverview. See you there.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Nothing funnier than going to London Wul choosing some handdyed fiber and then unknowingly choosing some Amy Butler fabric for aprons and realizing at the till that they match. OMG! This is taking coordination to a whole new level. Scary!

You can now get Amy Butler fabric at London Wul. I can't promise that your fabric will match your fiber but who knows. Cinna

Very interesting night at Reads last night for our get together. Nathalie sported her completed raglan. Beautiful. Deans showed off the coal she just completed for her DD. The funnest thing was when the lovely Caitlyn (I hope I spelled your name properly) came in and showed us all how she had just learned to finger knit in school. Cudos to the schools for doing this and to Caitlyn for taking time to show us. It's always great to learn new techniques and to learn from someone so young is especially fun.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Hi All. Well I finished the summer sweater project. Yeah! This was a project chosen by Doris of our Reads knitting group and is a free project on Red Heart. Designed by Julie Farmer this " Cuff to Cuff Sweater" is pattern# LW2594 and is made using Red Heart Boutique "Treasure". It is quite warm.

The next meeting of the Reads group will be Monday the 16th. Hugs Cinna

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Yeah my spindles from Spinerosity on etsy arrived today. After reading "Respect the Spindle" by Abby Franquemont I realized I needed a few more spindles. I wanted a few low whirled and a Hugh whirl and I wanted not expensive ones as I wanted to ve able to throw them in my work hat and handbag. Enter Kendra Diaz of Spinerosity. The mini spindles are just a few dollars and the lovely support bowl just $5.00. Note the vibrant colors. Thank you Kendra. Cinna

Sunday, September 9, 2012

In case you're wondering what "OCD" means. Well it is the initials of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I seem to get a little obsessive compulsive when I am stressed. For intance my mother is ill and I start making spindles and buying spindles and using spindles. Below are my 2 latest creations. Both are made from dowels. The high whorl spindle uses a large donut bead for the whorl and the low whorl spindle ( I call her Peppermint Patty) uses a toy wheel. They both spin okay but are not as well balanced as I would like.

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My other obsession during this time has been jewellery. Especially the Knitter's Row Counter bracelet which has lead me to do some basic wire wrapped jewllery making. Just a few ear cuffs. Anyways, have you seen the row counter bracelets anywhere? There is a good tutorial at West End Design Knits and some lovely ones for sale on Etsy. I really liked the ones at Crimson Orchid . So mine are below. As for the wire jewellery tutorials I just Googled. I found some very nice sites on Pinterest

Knitter's Row Counter

Basic wire jewellery

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﻿﻿I also became a little interested in making a wrist distaff for spinning. I found a good tutorial at the Sanquine Gryphon for a braided and beaded distaff and a nice tutorial for a felted distaff at the Art of Megan . I made my braided distaff out of some Jacob fibre that I purchased from Heidi of London Wul last year.

Felted distaff

Beaded&braided wrist distaff

So I managed to sign up for the Spinning Retreat in October. Hosted by Moncton's Hub City Spinners and being held at Rodd's Miramichi River Resort on the 12th to the 14th of October. It should be a nice time and don't forget all of that week the Fibre festival taking place in Amherst Nova Scotia.

This weeks knit group will meet on Thursday the 13th at Reads in Riverview at 6pm.

Happiness is being able to love without reserve and to knit/spin/craft without censor.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Well things are finally looking up. My mother has finally recovered to a level that I no longer feel I need to be there half of my days of. Thank goodness.

I had a great few days at home. I got caught up on my sleep and housework. Reaquainted myself with my husband. I had a good visit with Heidi at London Wul on Thursday and bought some nice fiber and a very charming yarn bowl. I recived a package from Knit Picks with some pretty red Brava acrylic yarn that I am going to make my mother a sweater out of. She finds wool itchy!! I bought some Chroma Worsted in discontinued "New England".Very pretty but the big exciting items were the books "Respect the Spindle" and "The Knitter's Handy Book of Top Down Sweaters". I will be receiving my club fiber and yarn from the Spunky Eclectic Club this week and I am looking forward to its arrival.

I am loving my Jenkins Turkish spindle very much. Man the balance is just great. I realized I have no other bottom whorl spindles so I ordered a few from Spinerosity on Etsy. Looking forward to their arrival.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Sorry about not posting but my mother has been quite ill and it's been a real nightmare for a few weeks. Mum is on the mend but it will take a bit of time. Thank goodness for my yarnie friends in particular Deina and Heidi. My dear sweet husband who is my rock. My boss who is so very understanding. Without your support I am certain I would have completely fallen apart.

I look forward to getting back to more regular knitting and spinning. I too need time to recover from last week as I got less than 40 hours of sleep in 8 days. It's so bizarre that when someone is acutely ill in your family how you add to the ongoing stress by not resting!

Anyway, the girls will be meeting on Wednesday evening this week. I won't be there as I have to work but we will be meeting Monday evening on the 13th and I will be there barring a catastrophe.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Wow what a great day!
I finished work this morning at about 7:25 and waved to DH as he drove by me on his way to work. Sigh. It was sunny and coolish a great morning for sleeping after 3 long 12 hour shifts. Two of which were nights. I arose to a glorious July day. Breezy, sunny and warm. I scooted out to the deck with my Keurig, Wolf Gang Puck "Breakfast in Bed" coffee and managed 3 sips before racing back in the house, throwing on a swimsuit, down to the plunge pool and plunging in to the 80*F water. Ah! lovely. My day just got better from there. The breeze stayed warm and the sun stayed out while I spent the majority of the afternoon sunning, knitting, reading and plunging!! I had a lovely supper of fresh garden salad, turkey salad sandwiches and created a lovely wine beverage to drink with it. Man I love summer!

Gone is my knitting ennui thanks to my Yarn Gal Pals of the Reads group. I started our knit along project, Red Heart's Cuff to Cuff Sweater, designed by Julie Farmer and made with Boutique Treasure. I also discovered a lovely little scarf pattern on Ravelry, Kiltipper Scarf by Aisling M. Doonan. This scarf is the perfect project for my (on purpose and otherwise) small amounts of lace/fingering weight handspun as it uses less than 200 yards of wool. and is perfect for the biasness of overspun singles. Check out Heidi Wulfraat's of London Wul free pattern Weekender Scarf . Very nice.

So to my delight I am once again knitting and revelling in it. Also wanted to let you all know about Knit Picks new Sunstruck birch needles. I shall have to give them a try.
See you tomorrow evening at Reads.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Sorry but my mother is unwell and I can't seem to focus. I have any number of projects on the go and I can't seem to settle down and work for any length of time on just one. Instead I have been obsessing on spindles. Note the cool supported spindle my DH made for me and the few I made for myself. I guess I will have to learn a bit about wood working if I want to make any more.Anyway, we are meeting at Reads tomorrow night at 6pm.HugsCinna

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

So I turned the big "50" last week on June 24th!!
I have to say this was one of the best birthdays ever. I worked the night of the 23rd.So most of my shift is on the 24th. My co-workers gave me a yummy cheescake and Jeff made us a crockpot of pulled pork.Man they were good. I arrived home to a house decorated with balloons by DH!! He was working a day shift and my DD was coming on the train. I slept for a bit went and picked DD up at the train station and she was carrying, you guessed it balloons. My sister and her DH came down that evening with a double chocolate cheesecake! Yum! When DH arrived home we had another cake!! OMG, I love it. See the festive fifty cake from DH. See the nice loot I purchased at London Wul with my gift certificates. I got a bag of Shetland fibre to spin, some dye to try, see the red handpainted fingering and ball of sock wool? Well that is to make the Lace Cardigan pattern in the Noro magazine that came out in June and I had enough left to buy a skein of Misti Alpaca lace yarn in a lovely yellow.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

We were joined last night at our knit group by my DD. We our both knitting Maylin Tan of Tri' Citroën Designs "Wingspan" shawl. Found on Ravelry. I am using Fleece Artist's Safe Harbour DK weight left over from the shrug I just completed and she us using Patons Lace in the Bonfire colourway. This is her 1st lace project and her 1st shawl. JoAnne completed her very nice shrug.Done in Vanna's Choice and the pattern is a free pattern "Easy Lace Shrug" and is lovely. Mobile Upload from Cinna

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Okay so KIP day has come and gone. Four of us from Riverview Read's Knitting Group spent the day travelling to Calais, Maine, St. Stephen and Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick for the day shopping for yarn. I must say it was a most relaxing and wonderful trip. Thanks to Deina, Therese and Nathalie for making it so enjoyable.

In Calais we went to Mardens and although the yarn available was small I did purchase 4 balls of Lion Brand Wool Ease at a bargain price. My best purchase was a pair of Birki's at an unbelievable price. We had a very nice lunch at the Bistro on the Boulevard in St Stephen and we were directed to the charming shop the Wool Emporium by our waitress. Who is herself a knitter. The Wool Emporium was a delight full of sewing,quality crafts and knitting supplies upstairs and a workshop downstairs. I purchased 4 balls of very nice sock yarn there. Then we were off to Blacks Harbour and a visit to Cricket Cove. Wow what a nice shop Donna has there! I teach at Cricket Cove in Moncton and been told by Gael and Yolande that CC in BH is quite a bit larger but I was enchanted and delighted that owner Donna was present for our visit. The BH shop is a wonderful relaxing spot full of charm, yarn, wool, tools, giftware, jewelry, patterns and a very comfortable sitting/ teaching area. I certainly would've spent many hours there happily. I am that I walked through the doors with a knitting project in mind or I know I would've charged quite a bit to my credit card. I was delighted to discover the DK weight hand dyed wool that Donna had the Fleece Artist dye for her past event Knit East in a beautiful blue tonal "Safe Harbor". That naughty Donna has me all hot knit this shawl on Ravelry. Bad Donna.

It was a great way to spend Knit in Public day and I even managed to work on a project. Yes I actually do knit. Below are pictures of the raglans I and a cropped cardi I have completed this Spring.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Wow look at the silky, soft shawlette Nathalie from the Read's Knitting group made. I will be seeing her tomorrow and will be certain to get more particulars. Why am I seeing her on a Saturday? Well because 4 of us from the group are headed down to Calais (Mardens), Cottage Crafts in St. Andrews and, Cricket Cove at Blacks Harbour! We are going to have a time. Woo-hoo! Expect a few road trip photos. Hugs Cinna

Monday, May 14, 2012

I went to CC sale Friday and I bought a ball of lovely orange Opal sock yarn to start knitting a pair of Cookie A's socks from her book sock love. Well when I went to cast on, on my 2.25mm knit pick 40" circular needle the tip fell right off 1 end! Hmmphf! No problem I cast the socks onto a 2mm needle and got up Saturday and took myself to CC and purchased an Addi Lace 2.25mm needle. I almost walked out with a 3mm but Linda noted the incorrect size. Thanks Linda. After completing the ribbing I went to transfer the socks to my new Addi and low and behold I had purchased not a 40" circular but a 24" circular. Eegad! So I shall be heading over to CC shortly. I have emailed knit picks and am awaiting a reply.

I didn't work on anything knitty yesterday, Mother's Day. I am currently completing a sweater and the sleeves are done 1 at a time and I am finding it excessively boring to knit them. Sigh. The socks are on hold until I switch my needle. The garter stitch sweater by handmaiden is also hold for a bit. It is a project that is pretty mindless and I like working on it on my breaks at work during my night shifts. I must say the white sweater I just completed is going to my DD and I must pack it up and mail it soon.

Oh yes my new Keurig machine that is only 15 days old has gone on the fritz and I have to return it today. Huge cranky lack of caffeine Sigh!!!

DH worked the entire weekend so for supper yesterday I had nachos and popcorn. Yummy! I did manage to bake bread, do housework and laundry.I have some kind of bad MoJo following me around. Back off bad gremlins today is a new day and I am fit for battle.

Tonight's meeting at Read's should be splendid. I need to be around my knitting gal pals and soak up some of their good vibes.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

On Sunday, April 8th, 2012 my younger ( okay baby) brother at the right old age of 45 yrs. had a heart attack!

I am thankful to his girlfriend Jackie for keeping her cool and calling 911. I am thankful that the paramedics arrived in a timely fashion and to the trauma doctor that allowed them to administer the "clot busting" medication. To all of the staff at the QE hospital in Halifax for their great care. To the doctor who inserted the stent that will allow his heart to function normally. I am thankful that it wasn't in the good Lord's plan to take my brother to heaven.

I am thankful to my wonderful husband, friends and co-workers for their support. I am thankful that I remembered to bring my knitting with me. It really helped to keep me calm.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

There was a great deal of silliness and much laughter during the Reads group tonight. I was very tired having just finished 3 nights this morning and sleeping until 2pm. So lack of sleep and trying to organize an overnighter to the Gaspreau Valley Fibres shop with 6 women certainly can make for a lot of laughter.

All was not silliness though. Note the mobeius knit by Elaine the shop clerk. The cute raglans knit by Deina for full size granddaughter and matching doll size raglan and hereto sets. JoAnne and Deina modelled their completed socks. Good job ladies.

It was snowing here the night we arrived. Surprising considering that they enjoyed temperatures in the 20 degree Celsius area the week we were away. Oh well that is why one goes south isn't it so when one comes home again they are so happy they went.

I managed to knit a tiny bit well in sunny Cancun.

Knitting in the early morning

I did manage to knit for about an hour one afternoon while sitting in the shade of a sunbed. Not an easy task considering it was about 82 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. I did garner a few strange looks butt hey who cares. Unfortunately DH felt more compelled to snap photos of the sunning iguanas instead of his most interesting wife knitting. Sigh!

I had knit 3 shrugs for my trip and I wore 2 of the 3. The lime green cotton organic shrug was way to warm to wear but the ping cotton shrug and my drop stitch calypso shrugs were the perfect accessories in the evening. DH did take a photo of me in the pink shrug at the Mexican buffet and theme night.

It was a very enjoyable place to knit but I am happy to be home and look forward to seeing everyone at Read's this Thursday evening.
Ola
Cinna

Friday, March 2, 2012

I am very excited!
Why?
Well Noro is launching it's own magazine in June!! There is an advertisement in the new Debbie Bliss magazine. I haven't been able to find out anything else about it. So all you Noro fans and Yarnies keep your eyes peeled for that.

Mitten class is going well at CC. Funny that I enjoy teaching knitting so well. My mother was a teacher and it was never a vocation I thought I would take to. I believe I enjoy it so much because I am passionate about the subject matter.

I have a shrug on my needles. I am knitting it in this stunning lime green cotton in Berroco Weekend Chunky 6925 Taffy. I wanted a shrug in cotton for my trip. I combed the patterns on Ravelry and found The Organic Shrug by Hilary of Purls of Wisdom. It suits my desires perfectly.Thank you Hilary. I also found a Lion Brand pattern that I like. It is the Knitted Cocoon Shrug . What a deceptively simple pattern. Picture it knitted in Fleece Artist deep purple mohair. Yum heavenly. I of course will have to knit it up.

Wednesday night knitting at Read's saw just Deina and I of the regular crowd and June a new drop in. Hope JoAnne is feeling well and congratulations to Therese on the birth of her new grandson. Knitting next week on Thursday night,March 8th.

Well that is all for now. My mouse is jumping all over the place driving me mad and I have to get the housework done, run some errands in town and get back home so I can knit. I may even attempt some spinning today. It's been a while and I missed spinning at London Wul yesterday because I was teaching.
Hugs
Cinna

Monday, February 13, 2012

Exciting day today!
You will find me at Cricket Cove, Moncton teaching two classes this morning "2 Mittens Tip to Cuff on 1 Circular Needle". Promises to be exciting and fun.

One of these days I am going to take Heidi of London Wul up on her offer and teach a class there. I just have to think of a class to teach.

I am working on my third shrug!! I have made two already! Now this may seem excessive. So my DH believes. Honestly it is not. We are to a sunny and warm climate for a week in March and I am at the age that although I may enjoy wearing strapless dresses not everyone will enjoy seeing my bare arms. Let's face it after a certain age decollete and wings are not attractive. Despite what your adoring and clever spouse tells you. I have completed a shrug using B&L cloudspun and a shrug turned cropped cardi using B&L Tuffy. I hope to upload pictures later if I can coerce DH to photograph me modelling.